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I’m happy to announce that my new science fiction novel, When We Were Forgotten, will be released on September 30, 2017. Just five days away! Eek!

Because I’m a woman who dares to have ideas on the Internet and because my new book wrestles with certain subject matters (climate change, reproductive rights, religious freedom), I feel it’s important to establish some ground rules for engaging on my blog from here on out.

1. Let’s talk! If you come here because you’ve read the book and want to discuss it, please do so. I’m all ears. I’d love to know what you thought of the characters, the setting, the themes, etc. If you have questions, please ask. If you have concerns, please share them. If you didn’t like the book, that’s fine. It’s not for everyone. Regardless, I’m happy to have a civil, respectful conversation with anyone who reads my words and wants to delve a little deeper into my book’s world. (By the way, thank you for reading the book. I really do appreciate it.)

2. The use of racist, homophobic, misogynistic, and other intolerant language will be cause for me to completely disengage with you. You have a viewpoint? Fine. Talk to me like we’re both human beings just trying to figure out this crazy world together. Better yet, talk to me like I’m a respected adult in your life. If you use any type of offensive and/or threatening language to try to get your viewpoint across, that’s NOT a viewpoint. That’s ABUSE. Abuse will not be tolerated here.

3. If you come here to taunt me just because I am a woman who dares to have ideas–especially if you have no intention of ever reading my book–I will ask you to kindly leave. If you don’t like someone like me invading your space, then don’t come here to invade mine.

4. Threats of physical harm to me or to members of my family, whether through comments here or through other forms of communication, will cause me to seek out the appropriate authorities. Please think about what you plan to leave behind before you leave it.

5. My book is a work of fiction. The story is made up and the cast of characters is diverse for a reason, which means the viewpoints of some of my characters may not be viewpoints I personally espouse. That should go without saying, but it’s like getting mad at an actor for something his character did in a show, when the actor’s just playing a part someone else wrote. Not every character in my book is going to believe everything I believe or think exactly the way I do. If they did, there would be no conflict, which would make for a pretty boring story.

6. Finally, please enjoy the book! It took over three years to write and lots of research on a variety of subjects. It is not perfect by any means, so please forgive me for any egregious errors I may have made while writing it. I’m only human. I make mistakes. Feel free to point them out to me in a respectful manner. I’ll take constructive criticism as graciously as I can, and then we can move on to something else. Because at the end of the day, it’s just a story.

Thanks for keeping these rules in mind and making my little corner of the Internet a civil space for everyone to enjoy.

Amanda Cook is a stay-at-home-mom and writer living in the rolling hills of southern Indiana. When she’s not caring for her family or obsessing over punctuation, she can be found helping out at her sons' school, catching up on her Goodreads list, playing (and sometimes winning, but mostly losing) board games with her friends, crying over her favorite PBS programs, or sewing yet another costume for the local gaming/pop culture convention, where she’ll probably lose at even more board games. Her second novel, "When We Were Forgotten," is the winner of the 2018 Bronze Medal for Best Sci-fi/Fantasy/Horror E-Book from the Independent Publisher Book (IPPY) Awards.